Cover design Translocation analysis in fetal erythrocytes The cover of Molecular Human Reproduction shows a fetal nucleated erythrocyte identified from maternal blood (top). An antibody against the zeta chain of fetal haemoglobin and conjugated with fluorescein isothiocyanate (anti-Z-FITC) was used for isolating the cell by fluorescence-activated cell-sorting (FACS). Fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) was then used to identify chromosomes X (red) and Y (green) (middle) and chromosomal locations 1q36 (red) and 6cen (green) (bottom). The mother was a carrier for a chromosomal translocation t(1;6) (p31;q14). This analysis in the 11th week of pregnancy identified fetal gender (female) and excluded the possibility of an unbalanced translocation. For further details, see 103106.
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